Gnosticism, docetism, and the Judaisms of the first century
Subtitle: the search for the wider context of Johannine literature and why it matters
By: Urban C. von Wahlde
Series: Library of New Testament studies -- 517; T & T Clark library of biblical studies; Library of New Testament studies -- 517.; T & T Clark library of biblical studies
Publisher: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 229
ISBN-13: 9780567656582; 9780567671912; 9780567656599
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Criticism, interpretation; Bible; Judaism; Gnosticism; Docetism
Description: "Here, Urban C. von Wahlde presents an exploration of the three distinct cultural and religious backgrounds against which scholars have frequently proposed that the Gospel and Letters of John are to be read and understood. Each of the three possibilities is examined in turn, as von Wahlde shows how they may be regarded as plausible or implausible depending upon the evidence available. He shows that there are features within the Gospel and/or Letters of John that do in fact suggest that they were influenced either by Gnosticism, Docetism or one of the variant forms of Judaism. However, in each case, while some of the evidence suggests a particular background, von Wahlde shows that it is equally clear that not all of the evidence can be seen to suggest the same background. Through an examination of the origins and purpose of the gospel, and drawing on the conclusions of his well-regarded commentary on the Johannine literature, von Wahlde presents a new way of understanding the Gospel in its wider contexts."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-219) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: The composition of the gospel of John; title: Gnosticism and the gospel of John; title: Docetism in the first letter of John; title: Docetism (and anti-Docetism) in the gospel of John?; title: First-century Judaisms: general introduction; title: Canonical Judaism and the gospel of John: The presence of a Jewish 'myth' about eschatological fulfilment; title: 'Realized eschaoloty': An example of the failure to recognize 'canonical' Judaism in the gospel of John; title: Apocalyptic Judaism: A radical transformation of the tradition; title: Limited love in the Johannine tradition; title: 'You are of your father the devil' in its context: Apolcalyptic polemic in John 8:38-47; title: Hellenistic Judaism and the prologue of John's gospel; title: The importance of recognizing the various backgrounds present in the gospel of John; title: Some insights into the development of the Johannine community derived from the awareness of the 'contexts' of the Johannine literature.